12-29-08

Today we traveled from Chennai to Kanchipuram, familiarly known simply as Kanchi, which is much easier to remember. We started off around noon, after having packed, checked out, and eaten. The taxi driver was very talkative. He was a Jain and was eager to explain many points of his religion to his equally eager audience. I was attempting to balance between listening and reading my book, which was at the good part, and while I succeeded fairly well, I did miss a bit of the conversation. He explained that non-violence was the key to a “smooth” life, without difficulties. Jains are vegetarians because they cannot harm animals. They do not even eat eggs. He also said that meditation and yoga were good.
After we arrived in Kanchi, we checked into our hotel. As soon as possible, I jumped into bed and continued reading. Dad and Mom went out and walked around for a bit while Patrick and I held down the fort at the hotel. Dad said that they couldn’t have been stared at more and wished that he had worn traditional clothes just to provide an excuse for the people staring at him. Kanchi much smaller than Chennai and much more conservative so they are probably not used to foreigners parading around in saris. While this is a pilgrimage site – it has many old temples and is the home of the Jagadguru, the successor of Sri Sankaracharya, a Shaivite saint – and has many tourists, most of them are Indian, not American.
I am proud to say that I finished the book by dinnertime and thoroughly enjoyed it, but now I have nothing to read. That’s probably a good thing, though, because it was very distracting. The hotel restaurant in which we dined was much louder then the one in Chennai. The food was still tasty however, and that is what matters.